


What if this is all the love you ever get?

by SunshineScorpius



Series: New Beginnings [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Bisexual Albus Potter, Gay Scorpius Malfoy, Gryffindor Albus Severus Potter, Heartbreak, M/M, Pre-Slash, Slytherin Scorpius Malfoy, honestly these boys, learning to fix a broken heart, meant for each other in every AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-08 06:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17976104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunshineScorpius/pseuds/SunshineScorpius
Summary: They were two heartbroken boys searching for something to mend their hearts, little did they know they’d find that in each other.





	What if this is all the love you ever get?

Scorpius sighed to himself, looking up at the stars and watching them twinkle in the dark of the night. They seemed so bright and happy, he only wished he felt the same. He felt his heart break as he recalled the events of the day, willing away the tears that had been falling all evening. He ran to the Astronomy Tower as soon as he found out, skipping dinner and missing curfew. It’s fine, no one would be looking for him anyway.

He sat cross-legged, searching for the brightest star in the sky. When he’s eyes finally settled on it, he watched it twinkle. They say the brightest star in the sky is a loved one looking out for you. He could only hope it was his mum out there, looking after him and silently whispering that everything would be okay.

There was no cure for a broken heart, his father had told him that once. Scorpius had never thought he’d have to nurse one, he was so sure that he was _the one_. He apparently did not think the same. _Is it always going to hurt like this?_ He asked himself, looking up to stars and hoping his mum would answer.

Scorpius couldn’t control the sobs that broke through his body, filling him up until he exploded. His heart physically ached, the pain throbbed inside of him. It filled his guts and lumped his throat. The pain never started straight away, it slowly grew inside of him. At first, he was angry, and that pit of fire burned in his stomach, but slowly it faded, and the aching numbness replaced it. It grew stronger and stronger leaving him full and empty at the same time. It wrapped around his organs as his tears watered it, causing it to grow stronger and tighten within him. It had all been too much and when he reached the top of the Astronomy Tower he collapsed to the floor and let the sobs fill the room.

Not that it changed anything.

He was still hurting.

“Scorpius, right?” The sudden voice scared Scorpius senseless. He jumped away from the sound, placing his hand over his heart as he lifted his head and his sore eyes met a pair of blindingly bright green orbs. The boy wasn’t a fool, he knew exactly who Scorpius was and Scorpius knew who he was. It was Albus Potter – Quidditch star, son of the chosen one and a heart of gold. He was Gryffindors version of Scorpius.

They were both incredibly popular their side of the pond, pitted against each other in everything possible: grades, house cups, Quidditch games. They were both seekers, which meant his father was over-the-moon every time Slytherin won a match. They didn’t speak much, kept to their half of the school until their paths were forced to meet. They didn’t hate each other in any way, Scorpius was actually quite fond of the boy. He was an incredible athlete, especially talented with a wand and not to shabby in his theoretical studies. In hindsight, he and Albus were two sides of the same coin.

“Correct,” Scorpius confirmed, though he knew Albus knew who he was. He didn’t bother asking a name back, no one could ever mistake those green eyes.

“May I sit?” He asked, politely. Scorpius rubbed his eyes, wiping away any evidence of tears, though Albus had already seen them.

“Sure,” he said, but his heart wasn’t in it. He came up for some peace, but of course that had to be ruined. He just didn’t think it would be Albus who ruined it.

“What are you doing up here?”

“I could ask you the same question,” Scorpius bit back, but there was no maliciousness in his tone. Just friendly banter. In the conversations he and Albus had over the years, they had mostly been friendly banter. They bickered by default, but neither ever meant the words. Mostly it was just for show.

“It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it, but you look pretty distraught, so I thought it might help,” his voice was kind. Scorpius could feel his eyes on him, but Scorpius kept his eyes to the sky. Scorpius contemplated this for a moment, then found no fault in it. The news had probably reached the entire school by now anyway.

“Guess you’ll find out eventually, I just found out my boyfriends been cheating on me,” he swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. Judging by Albus’ taken aback look, he hadn’t known about the news. When they had first got together, Scorpius and his boyfriend, Nathan, were talk of the school. Nathan was a year above Scorpius, made Quidditch captain his fifth year and was set to go pro following graduation. It was that year they got together and a year and a half later they were growing strong – or so he thought. Turns out Nathan never shared the same feelings as him.

He didn’t understand it really, how someone could just stop loving him. The only conclusion Scorpius could come to was that he never loved him in the first place – not really. Because you would never want to hurt someone you loved? Right?

“Shit, dude I’m sorry that sucks,” Albus, articulate as ever, sounded genuinely upset. Scorpius nodded his head, rolling his eyes slightly, but not at Albus, more at the entire situation.

“It’s okay,” Scorpius lied. “I hexed him… then came here to cry. Honestly thought I’d get longer on my own.” Albus – much to Scorpius' surprise – set a small, firm hand on his shoulder and squeezed. It was a comforting gesture, if not a little out of place, but Scorpius was thankful for it.

He thought he needed to be alone, but maybe he just needed someone who wasn’t going to break him even more. He couldn’t go back to the dorm because both Nathan and the boy he cheated with would be there. Scorpius didn’t know if he could ever go back again. Maybe he should just drop out of Hogwarts? Yeah, that sounded like the most logical solution. _Do what you always do, Scorp, run away,_ a voice in his head reminded him. It wasn’t that running away was always his solution so much that running away was _almost_ always his solution.

“Mind if I cry with you?” Albus’ voice pulled Scorpius from his thoughts, he’d almost forgotten the other boy was there.

“Sure, what’re you crying for?” The tone seemed too nonchalant, but Albus spoke in the exact same tone.

“My girlfriend just dumped me, says I don’t pay her enough attention,” for the first time, Scorpius heard his voice wobble with emotion. He turned to face him now, Scorpius had been avoiding looking at him, and saw Albus looking back. His eyes were bright against the pale moonlight, made to shine with wonder. They were quite beautiful, Scorpius thought, and it wasn’t the first time he’d ever thought it. He had always appreciated the beguiling features that made up Albus Potter: his deep-sea eyes, his enticing unruly black hair, his angular features with jaw bones sharp enough to cut you and lips so kissable. He had the biggest crush on Albus, that was before he started dating Nathan, of course, but if anything, Albus had grown significantly hotter than before.

“And do you?” Scorpius pried.

“I try! But you know, O.W.Ls, Quidditch, it’s hard to find time.”

“I get that, Quidditch takes up a ridiculous amount of time,” he really did get that. He hardly had time for anything because of Quidditch. At first, his grades had slipped, but Scorpius managed to juggle his time and brought them back up. He wouldn’t let anything – not even Quidditch and a boyfriend – get in the way of his top-in-his-year status.

“Wait, isn’t your boyfriend-”

“Ex,” Scorpius reminded.

“Right, isn’t he the Slytherin Quidditch captain?” Scorpius sighed, watching as Albus’ face settled into knowing. His eyes were sympathetic as they looked over Scorpius’ face, searching for signs of pain and hurt and finding it written everywhere. Scorpius was never very good at hiding his emotions.

“Ding, ding, ding,” he replied, sarcastically, forcing a chuckle, “how awkward are practices going to be for me now?” He kept up his amused charade, knowing Albus saw right through it. “Want to know the worst part?”

“I don’t know, do I?” Albus chewed on his bottom lip, his eyes wide.

“He cheated on me with George Zabini,” Albus gasped, clearly knowing the name. Scorpius continued, “not only my best friend but also fellow team member. I should probably just quit the team.”

“What, no? You’re the best seeker Slytherin’s seen since your father!”

“How do you know that?”

“First of all, I have eyes and we have competed against each other quite a lot since we both made our teams. Also, Rose has us researching you all to get your tactics, and obviously we’re both seekers so naturally I got you. I think you might be even better than me,” Albus joked, knocking Scorpius’ shoulder with his, evoking a small chuckle from the other boy.

“Guess we’ll see at the game next week,” Scorpius challenged, sending a mischievous grin Albus’ way. They sat staring at each other for a while, until their smiles faltered into frowns and the air settled into pity. It was Albus who broke the silence first.

“Are you okay?”

“Not really, you?”

“Not at all.”

Scorpius sighed, breaking his eye contact with Albus to look back out onto the night sky. It was an especially clear night, the moon hung low and cast an eerie moonlight glow over the two boys. The stars glistened against the dark background, the wind howling slightly in the distance. A cool breeze crept into the tower, gathering Scorpius’ thoughts into one before scattering them to the wind. He shivered involuntarily.

“What if this is all the love we ever get?” Scorpius mused, absentmindedly staring out into night, wishing for the stars to take him and claim him as their own. He’d quite like to be a star, they always seemed happy. Scorpius envied them. Albus had been watching them, too, but when Scorpius spoke his head snapped towards him.

“Nah, we’ll be fine,” he said in that nonchalant tone again. “It’s rare for people to stay with the person they dated in school, especially their firsts,” Scorpius suspected his words were supposed to be some kind of comfort, but he found nothing of a sort in them.

“I don’t know, I thought Nathan and I would be forever. Maybe people just can’t love me,” why he was saying all this, he didn’t know. Albus certainly didn’t care to hear it, but somehow Scorpius couldn’t stop the words. Someone was listening to him, whether they wanted to or not, and Scorpius weren’t sure if he’d ever be able to get this off his chest again.

He had genuinely thought it once upon a time, that he couldn’t be loved. He was a Malfoy, he was hated by default because of his grandparents’ horrendous actions, actions which meant his father was dragged into the mess, too. Scorpius was isolated as a kid, hidden from the world and their prejudices and hatred. His father claimed he never had to be subjected to that. And while it worked for the most part, when Scorpius started school he wasn’t prepared for much. His house loved him because that what Slytherin’s did, but some other people weren’t so friendly. Eventually, Scorpius learnt to ignore them.

Then, Nathan came along and proved all of Scorpius’ doubts wrong. He loved him – or so he thought – despite his name and his family. Nathan had made him feel loved and now, he felt lost.

“Hey, don’t say that,” Albus bumped his shoulder again. Scorpius suspected Albus wasn’t very good with emotions or deep talking as every time the conversation took a deeper turn, Albus would turn the conversation to a playful one with a joke. “You’re plenty lovable. Even my cousin, Rose, fancied you last year.” Scorpius snorted.

“I’m gay though,” he said, ignoring the idea that someone as fierce and popular as Rose Granger-Weasley – not to mention she was a Gryffindor – fancied him. That just was not possible.

“Yeah, didn’t stop her,” Albus joked.

“Maybe he would never have cheated if I just gave him what he wanted,” Scorpius said, ignoring the Rose conversation and following his own. He never meant to say it, but it just slipped. He tended to do that, his father always scolded him for it. Once upon a time, Nathan had found it endearing. Scorpius wondered at what point he started to dislike it.

“Which was?” Albus asked, not prying exactly, more just curious. Scorpius didn’t mind, he had started the conversation after all, and it felt good to get it all out.

“Sex.”

“He cheated because you didn’t want sex?” Scorpius nodded, rubbing his eyes with his hands as Albus looked upon him in disbelief.

“I assume so. I mean, I did find him with Zabini’s mouth round his dick so that was my first assumption,” his tone was sarcastic, and he was rolling his eyes, but really the words stung.

“Wow,” was all Albus could say. Ironically, that had been Scorpius’ initial reaction. “This is a complete mess,” he concluded, and Scorpius couldn’t help but laugh.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to just pour my heart out. My father says I don’t have a filter,” he replied once he had gained himself. Albus was looking at him, a grin on his face which faltered only slightly at his words. Scorpius looked back at him and they locked eyes for a short moment.

“That’s okay, I don’t mind listening,” Albus’ tone was soft and sweet, his smile was warm and inviting and Scorpius felt safe. “I know we don’t talk much, but I’m always here to talk if you ever need. What you’re going through is a shit-show, and you’re losing a lot of people, I promise I’ll stay,” Albus didn’t know why he said it, but it just felt right. Scorpius smiled widely. He felt as though Albus’ words a stitched together part of his heart, and that maybe it wasn’t as broken as it was before.

“Thank you, Albus,” he said and meant it. A lot of people had hurt him, but somehow the boy who was not-so-much-of-a-stranger was the kindest to him. Scorpius smiled at his new-found friend and turned to look back out to the stars.

Scorpius weren’t sure when it happened, but they ended the night with Scorpius’ head on Albus’ shoulder and a blanket wrapped around their shoulders that Albus had conjured. They stayed their all night, awake with no intention of sleeping. They sat and cried and laughed and smiled together. They were both heartbroken, but together they learned that they could heal. It would take a lot of time and a lot of work, but with each other it seemed a not-so-daunting procedure.

Maybe it wasn’t all the love they were ever going to get.

They would learn that for themselves soon enough.


End file.
